Party Animal
by hmweasley
Summary: Scorpius does not do parties. He never has. Then again, Albus has always been able to convince him of things that he was so sure were bad ideas before.


**A/N: This was written for an assignment at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments): Arithmancy task 4 "** **write about a socially awkward person being convinced to attend a party."**

The lasagna had taken hours to make, and Scorpius was proud of his work. It was so delicious that he didn't realize Albus wasn't eating until he'd almost finished his first serving. He raised an eyebrow at his husband, and Albus averted his eyes to his plate.

"What is it?" Scorpius asked, his voice rising in fear.

He began running through possibilities in his head. Perhaps he'd gone too heavily on the parsley. It tasted fine to him, but everyone had different preferences when it came to herbs.

"It's not the pasta," Albus said, smiling in spite of his distraction.

Scorpius looked up from the dish of lasagna between them, and Albus sighed, running a hand through his hair. He leaned back, laying his fork on his plate.

"It's not that big of a deal," he said, more for his benefit than Scorpius'.

"You not eating certainly seems like a big deal."

"The lasagna is great," he said with a grin.

He took a bite of it to emphasize his words, and Scorpius impatiently waited through the chewing.

"There's a party at work in two weeks," Albus said once he'd swallowed. "Everyone will be there. It's not required, but it is, you know?"

Scorpius cringed.

"I'm sorry," he said. "That sounds like an awful time. I hope you make it out in one piece."

Albus rubbed the back of his neck.

"I was actually hoping you'd come with me for this one."

When Scorpius laid his fork down, the metal clanging against the china echoed against the walls.

"Albus, I don't do parties," he said. "You know that. Not once have I even been to something that one might classify a party."

"I know." He'd put on his best begging face and leaned forward to grasp Scorpius' hands. "It's just that everyone else brings their partners to these things. Last time, Jessica brought some girl she'd only been on one date with, yet most of them have never met my husband. It'd be nice, I think, for them to put a face to your name, considering how much I go on about you."

Scorpius blushed.

"Do you really talk about me that much?"

"Of course I do. How could I not?"

His smile was soft, and the intensity of his gaze made Scorpius' face redder.

"Everyone will be there," Scorpius reminded him, "and you didn't come home until midnight when you went to the last one."

"We can leave earlier," Albus said gently. "They'd understand."

"I'll think about it," he allowed.

Albus' smile widened as he released Scorpius' hands and finally began eating his lasagna.

XXX

Scorpius knew an astonishing amount about Albus' co-workers considering he'd never met most of them. Albus told him about them every evening, and there were some who came across so colourfully in Albus' stories that Scorpius could pick them out in the crowd before Albus whispered their names in his ear. Grayson Cavedon was one of those people, and even without Albus' prior stories, Scorpius would have disliked him on sight.

Any hopes Scorpius had of avoiding Cavedon for the whole party were dashed when the man spotted them and became the first of Albus' co-workers who tried to approach them.

"No," Albus muttered to himself, steering Scorpius away with a hand on his elbow.

Scorpius followed without complaint, his heart hammering in his chest as they hurried away from Cavedon. He didn't dare glance over his shoulder to see if the man was following them. So great was his anxiety that he didn't realize he was being steered towards Albus' boss until they were less than ten feet away.

He pulled up short, and Albus stopped too. His look was sympathetic, but he whispered in Scorpius' ear, "It's the best way to steer clear of Cavedon. Ms. Moore is a nice person. I promise."

His trust in Albus was great enough that he let himself be steered the rest of the way to where the woman stood near the far wall.

Moore had sharp features that enhanced the influence she held over those in the room. Scorpius could easily imagine himself bowing to her will. She held her head high and wore a stern expression that made it clear she didn't expect to be crossed.

Albus also had nothing bad to say about her, Scorpius reminded himself.

When she saw the two of them, her lips turned upward in a small, fond smile.

"Albus," she greeted while looking past him to Scorpius. "This must be the husband I've heard so much about."

Albus tugged Scorpius to his side with an arm around his waist.

"Yes, ma'am. It is."

A blushing Scorpius kept his gaze on the sparkly gold heels Moore had chosen for the evening. He found them far too distracting anyway.

"He never shuts up about you," she told Scorpius in a warmer tone than he'd been expecting her to use. "Sometimes I'm amazed he gets any work done when he could talk about you all day."

It was Albus' turn to blush.

"I'm not that bad," he muttered.

Moore smirked at him while Scorpius wrapped his own arms around Albus' waist and dropped a kiss to his cheek.

Albus was about to say something else when a new voice spoke.

"So, you're real then."

Scorpius knew it was the infamous Cavedon before he'd matched the voice to a face. Albus' grip on his waist tightening was the only confirmation he needed. He had to lean around Albus to get a good look at Cavedon, and when he did, it was to find the man staring straight at him as if Albus and Moore weren't there.

"I am," he said, doing his best to conceal the shaking of his voice.

Albus took a step forward to block Scorpius from Cavedon's view, and Scorpius had to stretch to see him better over Albus' head. Cavedon and Albus were roughly the same height; though with Cavedon's light brown hair and brown eyes, they looked nothing alike. The man's most defining features were his large eyes that made him look like he was perpetually surprised.

"No, Cavedon," Albus scoffed, "I've made up a husband for the past three years."

Scorpius pinched Albus in the side, but he couldn't do anything to stop Cavedon from making a comeback.

"Well, what am I supposed to believe? You've been talking about the man for years, and no one's ever met him."

Albus snorted and stepped back enough that Scorpius had an unobstructed view of Cavedon as the man scowled.

"Plenty of people have met him," Albus said. "You'll have to forgive me if introducing him to you was never one of my top priorities."

Cavedon's large eyes snapped to Moore as if he'd just remembered she was there.

"You have to think it's strange, Ms. Moore? He hasn't even come to an office Christmas party like everyone else."

Moore observed Cavedon over her wine glass before taking a slow sip. None of them said a word until she spoke.

"Half the people at those parties want to leave five minutes in. If anything, that shows he's intelligent."

Cavedon gaped for a moment as Albus snickered. Scorpius wished he could find such open amusement in the situation, but he found Cavedon too offputting to find anything funny. He felt his cheeks heating up, and he his hand sought out Albus' wrist, giving it a squeeze. Albus gripped his robes and used them to tug Scorpius back to his side.

There was something bothering the blond, and he couldn't help but share it with Albus, though he knew Cavedon would be able to hear.

"If you made up a Malfoy, I'm pretty sure Grandmother would go spare."

Albus didn't bother stifling his laughter. Scorpius felt a little proud of himself, though he hadn't been aiming for such a strong reaction. He was amused enough by Albus that he wasn't paying attention to Cavedon's glare.

Moore took another sip of her wine before observing in the same voice she'd used before, "I've always thought Narcissa Malfoy was quite a capable witch."

She levelled Cavedon with a pointed look.

"You might want to be careful about accusing her grandson of being a figment of a Potter's imagination."

Cavedon clenched his jaw. He considered them for a few seconds before he turned on his heel and hurried away. Moore watched him go over her glass.

"I really should go ahead and fire him," she said to herself as soon as he was out of earshot.

She raised an eyebrow as she turned back to Scorpius and Albus, shrugging as if innocent.

"You heard nothing from me," she said before heading in the opposite direction as Cavedon.

XXX

"That wasn't too bad, was it?"

Scorpius glanced at Albus to find him watching him as he slipped his cloak on with a concerned frown. Scorpius smiled, leaning forward to place a kiss to the crease in his husband's forehead.

"It could have been worse," he allowed. "The dip was delicious."

Albus smiled at him, and for a moment, they simply looked at each other. Then Scorpius grew aware once more that they were standing where anyone might be watching, and he motioned for Albus to follow him to the fireplace where others were standing in line to use the floo.

"But I'm never coming to one of these again," he concluded.

Albus didn't argue with him.


End file.
